Discuss the latest comic book news and front page articles, read or post your own reviews of comics, and talk about anything comic book related. Threads from the two subforums below will also show up here. News Stand topics can also be read and posted in from The Asylum.

First: I understand that you can't just make an immediate break from what Geoff Johns was doing. The last decade was basically Johns' vision of the franchise.

But man. I have to admit, I was fairly disappointed to see Larfleeze in such a prominent role. Just...man. Yeah, it's the first issue of a new run, but damn. I really was looking for a fresh idea, a fresh take...something different.

The script itself...I've never read anything by Robert Vendetti before, so I have nothing to compare it with, but it seemed at first glance that he has a feel for the characters he will be using. The actual conversations between characters felt pretty good.

But ugh. Larfleeze. More color spectrum characters. Man. I could've gone another 20 years without seeing any of those characters, Larfleeze or Atrocitus, etc., again, in the main GL book.

*Sniff, sniff* "Damn it, Diana...If I'd known they would trade us in for a JT Krul-written Captain Atom and "The Savage Hawkman," I'd have let Superboy-Prime destroy all reality."

"Superman flies and is really strong...what the fuck else do you need to know?!" -- Hitler, expressing his displeasure about DC rebooting and complaints about continuity

My main problem with this issue was that Venditti is already putting Hal and Carol back to square one. When this series relaunched and Hal didn't have his ring, he was ready to propose to Carol. Last issue when Johns left but gave us a glimpse into the future, Hal and Carol were married and had a child. Just one issue later, Carol isn't sure that she can be in a relationship with Hal because he's, well Hal. It's just incredibly frustrating. You would think that after all that Hal and Carol have been through during John's run, they would have grown past this immature will they/won't they crap.

Maybe Venditti is just teasing us here, maybe he will show us that Hal isn't the guy Carol thinks he is, and maybe he will propose to Carol by the end of this first arc but I doubt it. I'm just tired of this will they/won't they crap, especially in my comics where long-term healthy relationships get terminated regularly in favor of "fresh storytelling alternatives."

On the plus side, I didn't really notice that Johns was gone in this issue. I think that Venditti played with enough of Johns toys to let us know that things were not going to be completely different while also adding his own toys and concepts to the mix. I'm not really all that excited about this Relic character but I am excited about some of the other concepts that Venditti introduced. I want to know more about the Green Lantern who is evidently in love with one of the Sciencell prisoners. I like the fact that Green Lanterns are getting reassigned to new positions and I really like the fact that the new recruits who have just arrived to Oa already just want to take their rings off and go home. Should be interesting to see where Venditti goes from here.

The post-Johns era of Green Lantern begins… and it feels a lot like the Johns era. But that’s not really a problem, the concepts and characters and tone that Johns created are a huge reason why the franchise is as popular as it is (heck, why it’s even a franchise at all) and for Robert Venditti to jettison that would be stupid on his part. You can tell that this is a different writer though, Venditti’s dialogue is a lot stronger than Johns’ for me, and things move at a brisker pace. Even the long talking segment between Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris is more enjoyable, and both of them felt more real.

The actual plot here is full of cool developments, especially the idea of Hal becoming the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, a job that he is woefully unprepared for. I liked seeing Kyle make fun of him, and as I said in my review of #20, Hal’s carefree attitude no longer annoys me. Seeing him realise that maybe he shouldn’t call for new recruits straight away… then immediately do it anyway was a great encapsulation of his character. Of course, it’s not all good, as bloody fucking Larfleeze shows up. You all know I hate Larfleeze, so it pissed me off no end to see him again. Hopefully this will be the last we see of him, and now that he’s got his own ongoing, he’ll be off in his own corner being read by easily pleased morons and ignored by right-thinking people.

But yeah, other than that, this was a good start for Venditti. We get a little tease about this new ‘Relic’ villain, the opening scene is a flash-forward, and some of the Lanterns have trouble charging up, so my interest is appropriately piqued. I like Venditti’s work on X-O Manowar a lot, especially his action sequences, so I’m excited to see him cut loose in future issues and show some epic ring-slinging. Billy Tan is an artist I run hot and cold on, sometimes I think his stuff is great, at others I hate it. In this case, I think it’s pretty good, he draws good aliens and he gives Hal just the right cocky smile.

It certainly is strange reading a Hal Jordan adventure without Geoff Johns, but so far, Venditti seems to be taking the best (and also fucking Larfleeze) of what Johns did, and putting his own spin on things, I reckon this run will only get better and better.

I thought it was a solid start for the Venditti era Looking at the last page, GL will continue to be a comic for space based action and thrills.

I thought it was interesting that Hal is a test pilot at Ferris again - I guess he left the job with the Air Force off panel. Maybe he never had that job in the New 52

I think Venditti demonstrates a good understanding of Hal & Carol's relationship. It's a long term relationship with ups and downs that probably will result in marriage at some point, but not for a while.

ElijahSnowFan wrote:But ugh. Larfleeze. More color spectrum characters. Man. I could've gone another 20 years without seeing any of those characters, Larfleeze or Atrocitus, etc., again, in the main GL book.

Having their own books makes it more likely that they will show up from time to time in the main GL book! I expect there's going to be a yearly crossover to goose up sales along the GL line

Johnny Smith wrote:I think Venditti demonstrates a good understanding of Hal & Carol's relationship. It's a long term relationship with ups and downs that probably will result in marriage at some point, but not for a while.

As a result of the finale to Geoff Johns' run we know that Hal and Carol will end up together and married. My point is, we have seen the on-again/off-again portion of Hal and Carol's relationship. It's time for them to grow up and actually attempt to make this thing work.